Detecting counterfeit electronics, such as integrated circuits, is an important challenge facing many companies, because such counterfeiting can cause significant economic losses. Unfortunately, detecting counterfeit integrated circuits is difficult because such circuits are mounted inside electronic devices.
One anti-counterfeit method uses an electrical process in which variations in fabrication of the circuit lead to variations in electrical properties. These variations, often referred to as physically unclonable functions (PUFs), are then used as identifiers. Unfortunately, these PUFs require operation of the integrated circuit device in order to function properly. This, in turn, requires fabrication of a complex integrated circuit, thus making it obvious to non-authorized entities that the device has been identified as important enough to protect. Another disadvantage of these types of PUFs is that they can only be used in Si CMOS circuits, due to the digital circuitry and memory requirements for identification of these PUFs.
Thus, there is a need for a simplified and more discreet method of verifying the authenticity of integrated circuits.